Saturday, 13 September 2008

The Lucky Dime Caper Limited Edition Boxed Set is one of those items every Master System collector wants, or if they are lucky enough to own it then it is likely to be one of their favourite items. This is the only set of it's kind for the Master System (a very similar set was released for the Mega Drive for Ecco The Dolphin, that will be featured in a later article). The first thing that strikes you when you come into contact with this set is the size of the thing! The outer box measures 330mm x 250mm x 70mm. The next thing you notice is that it's a really high quality item, made from thick textured card, that feels expensive (unlike most of today's thin glossy cardboard video game sets).

I seem to remember seeing the set in the shops priced at £49.99 but I cannot find any evidence to back this up (Can anyone else remember or does anyone have an advert or news piece showing it's release?). I have a magazine listing it for sale for £14.99 in one of the many game shop adverts of the time.

The imprinted Sega logo at the top of the box is a really nice touch

The Lucky Dime Caper set contains the Master System video game, an audio cassette featuring an assortment of Disney songs and a Lucky Dime Caper T-shirt. The box opens out into two halves with the aid of a small black cotton tab at the top. The hinge is at the bottom end of the box (It's wise to take great caution when handling one of these as I can imagine a careless hand could damage the joins or inner sections).

Within the main box there are 3 removable card sections that hold the contents (see below). The two smaller sections which hold the game and cassette are both constructed from the same thick card as the outer box. The larger section which holds the T-shirt is made from a much thinner card (which is quite easy to damage).

The Audio cassette, titled 'Donald Duck's Disney Selection', has 4 popular Disney tracks on each side. See the full cassette insert here and here.

Side A)I Wan'na Be Like YouWhen I See An Elephant FlyBest Of FriendsHe's A Tramp

Side B)The Bare NeccessitiesZip-A-Dee-Doo-DahEverybody Wants To Be A CatCruella De Vil

This cassette was produces by Pickwick and the spine says 'Sega 1', which suggests there are more.. I know for sure there is a Jungle Book Sega cassette, as it is advertised as coming free with the game in magazines from the time.

The 100% cotton T-shirt included in the set comes in a sealed plastic bag (sealed with two pieces of red tape, see below). The label shows it is made by 'Mickey Magic' but does not show sizes (If anybody has an opened Lucky Dime Caper T-shirt please can you let me know the size and provide a good folded out photo of it).

Let me know if you have an open one as this one will remain sealed forever.

The game itself is almost identical to the very common usual release, except for a simple sticker covering the bar code advising 'Not To Be Sold Separately'.

One more item which comes with this set, and as far as I am aware it is the only place it can be found, is a Land Of Illusion double sided poster/ games catalogue. Much like the outer sticker of the box set the poster also states 'Master System II'. One side is simply an advert for Land of Illusion (priced at £29.99) and the other side is a games catalogue featuring games priced £9.99 and £14.99. The poster is twice the size of the usual Master System game pack in posters.

The Lucky Dime Caper Limited Edition Boxed Set doesn't show up very often on ebay, so when it does it will fetch between £60 and £100 (Unless it is poorly listed, incomplete or damaged). It is worth picking up any of the component parts if you see them separate as you may be able to piece together a full set if you're lucky. I purchased my set for £70 from another collector, he had bought it off ebay for £20 (He caught it when it was first listed and offered the seller £20 buy it now).

The price sticker says £9.99 (I wish)

A few years back a company called Telegames had brand new sealed LDC boxed sets for sale in their online shop. I believe they had about 20 originally and sold them for between £50 and £80 each (Please let me know if you have more accurate information). The Telegames sets were shrink wrapped and also had plastic strapping around the box (see above). I'm unsure if this strapping is original from Sega as I have bought a Mega Drive game from Telegames with the same plastic strapping. This doesn't stop me wanting it though!!

Look out for my future articles on the Mega Drive Limited Edition boxed set and other Sega sets. If you have information or pictures of other Sega box sets then please let me know.